About Us

Appalachian State University is one of 150 institutions included in The Princeton Review’s 2014 edition of “The Best Value Colleges: The 150 Best-Buy Schools and What It Takes to Get In.” The publication profiles, but does not rank, 75 public and 75 private institutions based on surveys conducted
in 2012-13 of 2,000 undergraduate institutions concerning their academics, cost and financial aid. Student survey data collected during the past three academic years also was used to create the list, as well as the percentage of graduating seniors who borrowed from any loan program and the average debt those students had at graduation. Appalachian also was included in The Princeton Review’s “Best in the Southeast” publication released in August 2013. According to information provided by The Princeton Review, “The schools that made our ‘Best Value Colleges for 2014’ list are exceptional for two reasons, They provide stellar academics at an affordable cost – either via a comparatively low sticker price or generous financial aid or both. Students who attend these schools don’t have to mortgage their futures to pay for their degrees.” Sixty-five percent of students at Appalachian receive some form of financial aid, from loans to scholarships. Families typically borrow $18,274 in federal loans for a student’s undergraduate study, according to the College Affordability and Transparency Center. Students who responded to the surveys commented on the university’s “open and accessible administrators’ and “caring and stimulating professors” as its challenging courses. One student wrote that the university “is completely focused on the students. Undergraduate research is greatly encouraged. This is truly a teaching university.”